The Rocco potato variety is bred in Holland and is now widely distributed in many countries of the world. This type of potato has been deservedly popular among vegetable gardeners and farmers engaged in growing root crops in the post-Soviet space for more than two decades.
Description of the Rocco potato variety
The Rocco variety is fairly easy to distinguish from other types of potatoes in appearance: an upright bush of medium size, small leaves with wavy edges, red-violet flowers (but often no flowering at all), almost smooth oval tubers with a soft creamy pulp, reddish shade.
Characteristics of Rocco potatoes
"Rocco" refers to the medium-ripening varieties of potatoes, the growing season, depending on weather conditions, lasts approximately 100 - 115 days. The variety is very resistant to dry weather. The most attractive quality of the Rocco potato variety is its consistently high yield, which averages 350 to 400 centners per hectare, but sometimes reaches 600 centners. From one bush it is possible to collect 12 tubers. Given that the weight of one tuber is 125 g, then one plant gives 1.5 kg of potatoes.
"Rocco" is a table sort, because the culture has good taste qualities. The starch content is 16-20%. When heat treated, the tubers do not change color, remaining white-cream. Remarkable properties of potatoes are used not only in the home kitchen, it is widely used in the industrial production of chips and french fries.
Resistance to disease is another valuable quality of potatoes. So "Rocco" is highly resistant to potato, golden potato nematode, Y virus. The average degree of resistance manifests itself to the twisting of leaves, wrinkled and banded mosaic, and blight of tubers. Unfortunately, the variety is susceptible to leaf blight.
It is very attractive for cultivators that the Rocco potatoes have a good marketable appearance (95%), while it lasts a long time and is well transported for long distances. This makes the culture ideal for retail sale.
Features of care for potato varieties "Rocco"
Care of the culture is required minimum, so a good harvest of potato "Rocco" is able to grow even a trucker-beginner. Preferably loose soil on the site, in dense soil roots develop poorly, and tubers grow deformed. Before planting the tubers, sprinkle with Bordeaux liquid (copper sulfate solution), potassium permanganate and boric acid. And when planting is recommended in the hole to throw a little wood ash, which increases the starchiness of tubers.
The main condition for successful cultivation of the variety is good watering. If possible, fertilize the crop with organic fertilizers and nitrate, since ammonia and phosphorus components contribute to the enhancement of photosynthesis. Potassium fertilizers increase the resistance of tubers to injury. An excellent fertilizer for potatoes are siderates, lupins, mustard, clover, etc. can be used as these. Ogorodniki note that the siderites enrich the soil, making it loose, and suppress the growth of weed plants. Underpass the bushes to 65 days after disembarkation is not recommended.
For information: as a siderite, the mustard scares off the wireworm from the potato site, and one of the main potato pests, the Colorado beetle, does not hibernate on the lupine-sown land.